


Holding On

by hidekaneheadcanons



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: Angst, Bullying, Fluff, High School, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 04:17:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13159107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hidekaneheadcanons/pseuds/hidekaneheadcanons
Summary: High-school exams are over and Hide can't wait to celebrate with Kaneki, his boyfriend of two months. Except when Kaneki comes out of his exam, Hide notices a dark bruise along his jaw.





	Holding On

**Author's Note:**

> Half-tempted to title this "Let it Go."
> 
> Written as a holiday gift for kuroreden on tumblr.

Hide popped out of his final high-school exam, grinning so big it felt like his cheeks were going to split. But he couldn’t help it. Kaneki was waiting for him and now that exams were over, they had nothing else to do but celebrate with each other. First Hide planned to take Kaneki out for coffee. They hadn’t gone out for a while, not since they started studying for finals. Also if they wanted to stay up long enough to watch the movie Hide was _dying_ to show Kaneki, then they would need some fuel in their system, being sleep deprived as they were.

Hide waited outside of Kaneki’s exam room, excitedly shifting from foot to foot. Kaneki’s exam ended at three, and he was the type to use up all the time he had reviewing over his work, so Hide had to wait another few minutes before he came out along with the remaining students. Hide sighed softly and took a seat against the wall.

After ten more minutes of waiting, students slowly began filtering out of the exam room. He ignored the crowd and searched for Kaneki’s smaller frame among them. When Hide saw Kaneki’s familiar blue sweater, he jumped up, an exuberant call frozen on his lips when he saw the dark bruise across Kaneki’s jawline.

Hide scowled and at that very moment, Kaneki’s eyes met his. Kaneki’s expression immediately fell, his shoulders curling in and forward. Wiping the angry look of his face and plastering on a smile, Hide nudged though the crowd to get to him.

“Hey.” Hide touched Kaneki’s arm gently. “How’d it go?”

Kaneki jumped a little, his eyes widening at the question. “O-okay. I think it went okay, but I’m still a little nervous.”

Hide grinned. Kaneki didn’t look like he was about to cry, so… “I’m sure you did fine. Don’t sweat it.”

Kaneki nodded. “And you?”

“Well… I don’t think Kami’s about to revoke my invitation over my marks, so decent enough for me.” Hide threw an arm over Kaneki’s shoulder. “But I am dead on my feet. I studied _way_ too much. I don’t know how you always do it.” Hide leaned against Kaneki heavily, making Kaneki huff as he kept Hide from falling. “ _Coffee_ ,” Hide whined.

“Yes, yes. Coffee. Now get off me before I let you fall.” Kaneki nudged Hide away. “Do you have a place in mind?”

“Of course I do.” Hide caught Kaneki’s hand and started guiding him through the throng of people. “Real nice place. Well, I think. It was recommended to me, but I haven’t been there yet. But, the reviews online are really good and I saw a few pictures of the place. Really spacious and dim. Kind of romantic.” Hide turned around to wink and saw a blush creep up Kaneki’s cheeks. Hide would have enjoyed it, if his eyes hadn’t once again caught the bruise marring Kaneki’s face.

Hide and Kaneki had been dating for a couple months. Actually, not quite that. Their two month anniversary was in five days. Hide was worried that dating could make things awkward between the two of them, but their relationship felt just as natural as it did when they were just friends. If anything, it felt even more natural to Hide. He didn’t have to hide any of his affection anymore, nor did he have to pretend that he _didn’t_ have a crush on his best friend. Which he did. But now his best friend was also his _boyfriend_ , which was probably the best feeling in the world.

The coffee shop wasn’t that far from school, so they just walked instead of taking the bus. Kaneki had fallen back into silence, staring down at the sidewalk as they walked. Hide babbled about his exam, complaining about some of the questions and their ambiguity. The whole time, Kaneki didn’t respond, and Hide could see him lost in thought with the way his eyes clouded over.

“You’re worried,” Hide stated. “About what I might say?”

Kaneki squirmed a little and Hide knew his guess was spot on. Hide sighed and tightened his hand around Kaneki’s, hoping the squeeze felt reassuring. It was only about a block to the coffee shop, so Hide quieted down for the rest of the way, giving Kaneki some time to gather his thoughts. When they got to the coffee shop, Hide picked a corner where no one was sitting and sat across from Kaneki. He gave their orders to the waitress, having memorized the order Kaneki always got when they went for coffee.

“Okay…” Hide reached over and ran his fingers over Kaneki’s clenched knuckles. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“It was –“ Kaneki took a deep, shuddering breath. “Kai… again.” Kaneki gently touched his jaw. “I haven’t looked at it yet. Is it… bad?”

“Not too bad…” Hide touched Kaneki’s hand on his face and lowered it, then ran his own fingers over the bruise. “Does it hurt much?”

“It’s tender.”

“And you didn’t have trouble writing your exam with it?” Hide’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have a headache or anything, do you?”

“N-no. I’m okay. Like I said, it’s just a little tender.” Kaneki averted his gaze and shifted uncomfortably.

Hide dropped his hand from Kaneki’s face and lowered it to rub at his knuckles again. “Sorry, I’m just worried.”

“I know.” Kaneki hesitantly looked back and Hide made sure his expression was open and calm. “This time they…” Kaneki knew Hide was going to ask what they did. “They stole my exam materials. My pencils and pens. I know it sounds really dumb, but it was only ten minutes until the exam and I didn’t have time to buy more, so I panicked a little. Thankfully Mrs. Yukimoto lent me some, so I was still able to write.”

As Kaneki spoke, Hide felt his calm expression slipping. “I’m going to kill them,” he said once Kaneki finished speaking.

Kaneki frowned. “Hide…”

“No, I’m gonna beat them to an inch of their life.” Hide grinned. “Since they obviously didn’t learn from when I put cockroaches in their gym lockers."

“Hide!” Kaneki hissed. “You _didn’t_ actually do that did you?”

“Of course I did. You should have seen Kai’s face. He screamed like a baby. Wish I could have taken a picture.” It was a satisfying memory. “But, if you just want me to let it go, then I will. We’re going to be out of high school now and jokers like that would never get into Kami like we did.”

Kaneki sighed. “Please let it go. It’s over now and I don’t want you getting in trouble. I just want to relax and forget about it.”

“That I can help with.” Hide lifted Kaneki’s hand and brushed his lips against the knuckles. “I’ve got the whole night planned. Disney movies and lots of potato chips. I even dumped some pillows and blankets on the couch this morning, so everything is ready.”

“Your parents don’t mind if I spend another night?” Kaneki asked.

“My parents _love_ you.” Hide smiled. “Say you keep me out of trouble.”

Kaneki smiled too. “If only they knew the half of it.”

The waitress arrived with the coffee and Kaneki broke away from Hide’s gaze to gratefully take it. Hide accepted his own and watched Kaneki fondly as he curled a hand around the mug and inhaled the aroma, his eyes closed. Then when he took a sip, Hide watched the remaining tension in his shoulders slowly slip away.

“That good, huh?” Hide lifted his own mug and took a drink, humming in appreciation.

While Hide tended to finish his coffee quickly, Kaneki took his time. When Hide finished, he rested his head on the table, his fingers still firmly curled around Kaneki’s. He closed his eyes and let the anger he was suppressing slowly drain out of him. He took steady breaths, in and out, imagining it slowly seeping out of his chest and into the table. Kaneki told him to let it go, so he would. He wouldn’t let those assholes screw up Kaneki’s entire day, so Hide decided he would have to put some extra effort into making sure the rest of it was as amazing as possible, and he definitely wouldn’t be able to do that if he got pissed off every time he saw the bruise on Kaneki’s face.

When Kaneki squeezed his hand, Hide glanced up.

“You ready to go?” Kaneki asked.

“Yep.” They stood.

Hide cast a quick glance around, pleased to see that no one was looking in their direction. Smiling, he gave Kaneki a quick kiss on the cheek, making him sputter and flush. He was still adorably red when Hide paid the bill at the front. With that, Hide felt the last of the anger leave him.

They walked out hand in hand. Kaneki had a little, pleased expression on his face and it made Hide feel all mushy on the inside. Hide resisted the urge to pull him into another kiss on the busy streets of Tokyo.


End file.
